The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles
by canhas
Summary: My take on what happens to Ahsoka after the depressing Season 5 finale, through Order 66, and to right before the Rebel Alliance is formed. Has a lot of OC in the crew, but will feature a few of the normal characters. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1: The AFtermath

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 1: The Aftermath (3 BBY)

The crew runs onto their ship, and Daesha ignites the engines. The battered human, Wookiee, and Nautolan men barely hold themselves together as the ship swiftly makes it into hyperspace. Daesha rushes out of the bridge to check her crew's injuries. As she finishes the last man, she reaches for a fourth person that is absent.

"Where is Ahsoka?" Daesha asks, worry evident in her voice. The three crew members look sadly at one another.

Tanner turns to look at Daesha. "She stayed behind," he says simply.

"What? What do you mean, 'she stayed behind'? You let her stay?" Daesha begins panicking. She knows what this means. She knows what would have happened to the injured girl if she went up against... That.

"I mean exactly what I said. Ahsoka stayed behind. She saved us," Tanner replies calmly. He refuses to remember what he had witnessed, but he silently vows to himself to never lay eyes on a saberstaff again.

"Why?" Daesha murmurs dejectedly. The girl who might as well have been her sister was dead. Sensing his moment, Tanner told the Twi'lek woman how brave Ahsoka had been and how she had fought to let them live. He didn't mention exactly what he had seen when he had turned back. He would inform Daesha later, when they were alone.

"No! No, she didn't. She couldn't. She wouldn't leave us like that!" the normally cool Twi'lek begins sobbing uncontrollably. The others of the crew simply envelope her

"She did. She did it to save all of us, Daesha," Tanner states, sounding worn and old.

/Do you think she's really gone?/ Arribecca grunts, misplaced hope abounding in his voice. /I mean, she's made it through worse, right? She'll be back, right?/ The entire crew looked at the Wookiee who was grunting and moaning with silent tears streaming down his face. _Denial never was a good emotion, _Tanner thinks sadly.

"No. She's not coming back. Who could come back from that?" Kho asks, pain and grief making his tone sound strained and aggravated. He lets a few tears escape as his head falls heavily in his hands. Arribecca puts his paw on the Nautolan man's shoulder in a rare gesture of comfort as Tanner stands with Daesha in his arms.

"We... We can't let this have been in vain. We can't have just _let_ her die. We need to remember her," Tanner declares, sudden fire and anger in his voice, fueled by his destructive memories. "We need to do something, make something, to remember her by."

"What, Tanner? She's dead. Who is going to lead our little rebellion? She couldn't even go up against that kind of power, much less us!" Daesha shouts, pushing Tanner away from her.

/Come on, Daesha. We can do _something_ for her. She would want us to.../ Arribecca half-heartedly smiles. It quickly fades as Daesha shakes her head and tumbles into a chair. She loses her composure and starts crying again while Arribecca lets a few more tears roll down his furry face. Whether one is crying or not, the grief seems to swallow the small cargo freighter in hyperspace.

While all of this had been going on, Kho had quit crying, picked up a pencil and paper, and started sketching. Tanner looks over and smiles for the first time since arriving on the ship. After looking at the drawing, he lets a solitary tear run down his cheek and turns away for a moment. When Kho is finished, he shows it to the entire group. The crew rushes outside with some paint when the ship next lands.

An hour later, the ship takes off from the planet. On the front of the ship, in the middle, there is a symbol. A silhouette of a Togruta's montrals dominates the symbol, all in black. A green lightsaber stretches in a straight line just above the montrals. A yellowish-green shoto is woven in between the headtails lower down. It, also, is in a straight line and faces the opposite direction from the above lightsaber.

When the ship takes off into hyperspace, Tanner shudders violently as a strange voice enters the back of his mind. _May the Force be with you_, the voice says: calm, warm, and loving. Tanner stiffens in utter confusion, but when he recognizes the voice, he whispers something only he can hear: "And with you, Ahsoka." Tanner smiles as her bright laughter fills his head. _We will miss you. All of us. Be safe on your journey,_ Tanner thinks as a few unshed tears threaten to spill over. And, as quickly as it had come, the feeling and the voice disappear. Tanner lets out a soft sigh when her presence leaves him for the final time.


	2. Chapter 2: Finding a Purpose

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 2: Finding a Purpose (20 BBY)

Ahsoka walked along the barrier, her strength failing with each step. The grimy ground and tattered buildings of the lower levels of Coruscant were what she now had to call home. She made her way back to one of the cheaper apartment buildings. Her hand pressed on the pad to unlock the door, and she stepped into the hall. She kept her hand on the wall to support her body, which now seemed heavier than it ever had. At the end of the mildew-stained hallway, a lift stood at attention, waiting for a tenant to get in. Ahsoka obliged and pressed the button for the sixth floor. The lift shot up the worn apartment building with Ahsoka feeling weaker each second.

She knew it had been a bad idea to go walking around without a weapon. She knew just how dangerous the streets of Coruscant could be when a former Jedi didn't have her lightsabers, but she had been curious. She had convinced herself that a teenage Togruta with the ability to lift things using the Force could avoid a mugging. Obviously, she had been wrong. Her spunky attitude had pissed off the wrong people, and those people were Mandalorian-level fighters.

The lift dinged as Ahsoka reached her destination. One hand held on her side, she managed to drag herself down the hall to her new home. The door swished open to reveal a sparse living room with a table and a few chairs scattered about. She slumped down in one of the chairs as the door swished closed and locked itself. As sleep overtook her, she fuzzily realized that she hadn't eaten in a few days and should maybe rectify that.

Ahsoka woke up violently, trying and failing to push herself out of the chair. Her side still ached, and her body was sore. She picked herself up, however, and limped over to her dining table. After searching the room, she only found half of a container of food rations. She sighed heavily to herself. _Life without the Jedi sure is hard_, Ahsoka thought, feeling a newfound respect for those already living down here.

She once again eased herself down into a chair and began eating the meat out of the rations. She pushed the blue tray away and laid her head down on the table. She sighed again, deeper and more regretful. It had been two weeks since her expulsion from the Jedi Order, but she had pulled enough scraps around to keep herself alive. She had gained some street smarts, especially after last night, but she wasn't ready to live on her own. She also didn't want to stay on the planet that constantly reminded her of what she lost.

Ahsoka stood up, a purpose and food now fueling her battered body. She was getting off of Coruscant. She just had to plan how.


	3. Chapter 3: A Journey Begins

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 3: A Journey Begins (20 BBY)

A few days later, Ahsoka was wandering along Coruscant's walkways, deep in thought. She was planning how to stow away on one of the ships headed for Tatooine. She figured the best way to get some money was to find the place where all the action was, and Tatooine was her first thought. _I could go to the docks where shipments were being unloaded, but the security there is tough._ _However_, she thought, _the docks for the Senate will be even better protected. My best bet is the merchant docks_. She sighed. Who would have thought she would have to resort to stowing away to leave the planet?

The occasional scream broke into her deep thoughts, and each time she reached for the lightsabers that were no longer there. She felt so helpless, walking along the dirty streets, that she tried even harder to tune her surroundings out. When she ran into a wall, though, that task became a bit more difficult. She stopped walking for a minute to collect herself and hoped that no one had noticed her slam into a wall.

Ahsoka was quickly realizing that she had no idea how to take care of herself on the streets and looked about nervously. She had to find a holomap terminal to get a view of her surroundings and the quickest route to her destination. She surveyed the streets around her. She was in the dirtiest district of the lower levels, since that was all she could afford. In between different alleyways, vendors were selling goods to the various vagabonds that lived in this area. However, the buildings here were of a better caliber than where her apartment was. A few police droids were watching the crowd from an upper walkway, and their attention was taken away from the street when a distress call beeped loudly.

She proceeded to stare at everything around her, finally appreciating the culture of Coruscant. She was surprised that a place that seemed so boring compared to the front lines could actually have a lot of action. _Perhaps I have just been in the wrong areas_, Ahsoka thought as she continued her search for the holomap.

She spotted one at the end of the street that seemed old and decrepit. She was suspicious of the machine, but, since she needed it, she approached the terminal. She also noticed an awful lot of people dressed in armor as she approached the terminal. This made her even more on edge, and Ahsoka nervously tried to reach for her lightsabers again. When her hands met empty air, she mentally slapped herself on the forehead and told herself not to panic. Renewed with the mental confidence, she activated the terminal.

A map of Coruscant popped up, if a little glitchy. Ahsoka reached down and zoomed in on her current position. With her finger, she traced a path of streets and alleys to the docks. According to the terminal, it would only be a short walk to the docks by normal avenues. She smirked a little to herself; she wasn't going to take the most conventional route. Ahsoka turned off the terminal and turned around. For the second time today, Ahsoka ran face first into a solid object.

Unfortunately for her, this time it wasn't a pole. It was a suit of armor, fitted onto the clone in front of her. A shock of nervous energy went through her body when she looked into the helmet.

"Watch where you're going, civilian," the clone said to Ahsoka as he brushed past her. Her body relaxed as he kept walking, bumping into countless other people as he went. She took another deep breath and stood up straight. She hadn't realized how much she was still affected by the whole affair with Barris and the Senate. _I was terrified of that clone_, she thought. _What does that mean?_ She shook off the last remnants of shock and continued on her way to the docks.

Ahsoka was hiding behind one of the boxes in the docks. She was peering at the latest shipment that came in and plotting on how to get on board. She knew this ship was one of the ones going back to Tatooine because she had heard one of the officers say something about it. She pulled out her macrobinoculars and examined the scene. She had gotten a pack together of everything she needed to take with her and found the macrobinoculars in her apartment.

The officials were looking over the entire scene with a couple of police droids, making sure nothing from this shipment was illegal. After all, these docks were the most important next to the Senate's personal docks. Ahsoka noted that four different people were regularly coming out of the ship. She also noticed that there was only one ramp in and out of the ship. As Ahsoka was sneaking closer to the ramp, she noticed that all of the crew members were out of the ship, talking to the police droids.

Ahsoka got as close as she could to the ramp leading into the ship and waited for her chance. As soon as the group was lead farther away, she snuck up the ramp. She hid behind one of the cargo containers in the central hold, towards what she assumed was the engine room. She looked around cautiously. There was still a lot of cargo on the ship, and she examined the crates more closely. On the pad that locked the crates, she saw that they were being shipped back to Tatooine from some of the black market dealers on Coruscant. _Smugglers_, Ahsoka thought uneasily. She hadn't wanted to be on board a smuggler's ship. _This is just great_, Ahsoka mentally grumbled. _I'm on a smuggler's ship. And I don't have any other choice_. She huffed a little to herself and crossed her arms over her chest. _Oh well_.

"We've got a stowaway," were the first words Ahsoka heard when she woke up. Her eyes shot open, and she tried to quickly pinpoint where the voice had come from. On the port side of the ship, the door had just opened to reveal a Nautolan man and a Wookiee.

/Well, what do you want to do about it?/ the Wookiee grunted at the man.

"Find him and get rid of him! We can't have a stowaway on our ship. Think of what could happen," the Nautolan man spoke quietly. The Wookiee nodded in agreement as the two began their search of the hold. Ahsoka knelt even further down behind the crate of weapons. She had to hide somehow... Ahsoka hopped up on the crates, taking care to maintain the silence. She laid flat on top of one of the highest crates. She knew that if she made a sound she would be found out.

Her breathing slowed as she tried desperately to calm herself. She watched from above as the Wookiee shook a few containers to try and get the stowaway to come out. The Nautolan man almost missed her senses as he floated through the crates, listening intently for any signs of life. Ahsoka tried even harder to flatten herself to the rough green crate's surface in an effort to escape the silent blue man below.

/I don't think there's anyone here, Kho./ the Wookiee growled after a few minutes of fruitless shaking.

"But Kips said there was another lifeform aboard the ship, Arri. We can't just ignore that," Kho, the Nautolan man, replied, frustrated.

/Maybe whoever this is just needed a way off of Coruscant. I mean, they haven't attacked the engines or anything important./ Arri hissed back. The Wookiee folded his arms and glared at the other man intently.

"Oh, fine. Have it your way. I couldn't find anything anyway," Kho said softly as they walked away from Ahsoka's crate. She couldn't believe her luck. Had the Wookiee attempted to shake her down, she would have been in for a nasty fight. She sighed out of relief and let her body relax. Maybe she would make it through this trip after all.

Ahsoka hopped back down onto the floor. If she fell asleep again, the ship's scanners would definitely detect a lifeform falling off a crate. She chuckled to herself as she fell back into her sitting position, content to remain there for the rest of the trip.


	4. Chapter 4: First Impressions

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 4: First Impressions

Ahsoka waited impatiently for the entire crew to leave the ship. After a few days on board the ship with no food, Ahsoka was quite eager to find a cantina. She peered above the container for the umpteenth time since arriving on the sandy surface of Tatooine. It looked like they had posted a Twi'lek woman at the ramp of the ship to prevent their stowaway from leaving. Ahsoka felt a strong desire to just Force push the woman out of the way, but that would hint at a less than peaceful meaning to boarding their ship. She had no choice but to wait until something called the girl away from the ship.

"Daesha! I need your help with this!" a young man called from outside of the ship. The woman sighed and proceeded to walk down the ramp. Ahsoka knew that this was the only chance she was going to get to leave the ship. As she ran from her cover, she considered the thought that this might be a trap. She mentally shrugged. What difference would it make if they tried to catch her? She could run really fast if it came to that.

Ahsoka shot out from the ship at top speed. A few voices called out at her from behind, including a deep growl. She ignored the voices and ran into the throng of people beyond the docking port. As the people enveloped her, she noticed a stray cloak lying on the ground. She smirked to herself and wrapped it around her.

She then got her bearings. A few signs were around, but they were all in Huttese, a language Ahsoka didn't understand. So, instead, she looked for the place most of the people were heading into and out of. A few vendor's stalls surrounded what looked like a cantina. Ahsoka headed into the round building, listening for any signs of pursuit. Her montrals twitched with the sudden onslaught of noise in the cantina. Bith musicians were playing a lively tune, and people mingled all over, probably making some kind of shady deals.

Ahsoka walked up to the bar, adding some swagger to her steps. After all, you needed to look and act like a criminal to do anything on Tatooine. The bartender swiveled his head to look at the teenage Togruta approaching him.

"A Corellian ale and something meaty. Make it quick," she muttered, putting on a dangerous and rough edge to her voice. It aged her, made her seem more intimidating, and caused the bartender to not question her. She smirked as she thought, _I could get used to playing the criminal_. She kept her senses on high alert, recognizing the possible threat from being in a cantina on Tatooine. It also didn't escape her thoughts that that crew could be looking for her, providing another reason to not let her guard down.

The bartender handed her the drink and a bit of bantha meat to quell her hunger. She plunked a couple of her last few credits on the counter and turned away. She moved to the back of the cantina, so she would have a view of the door and some shadows as cover. Ahsoka stood out like a sore thumb, however. She was in the back of a cantina that throbbed with movement and life, and she was as still as a stone. It was a wonder no one had come to pester her yet.

Meanwhile, the crew of the freighter _Gypsy Danger_ scratched their heads. A young Togrutan girl had run off their ship, proving Kipper's ship scans were right. Tanner, the ship's owner and captain, stood dumbstruck. _How did we miss her during our search of the hold?_ he wondered, deeply interested in this new turn of events.

"Well, whatever we do, we need to get a hold of the girl soon. We need to know what she was doing on our ship before she tells anyone!" Daesha was speaking rapidly, obviously miffed at the fact that the girl had escaped.

"What do you propose we do, Tanner?" Kho asked, intrigued as to the older man's response. Tanner thought on his response for a seconds before speaking again.

"We need to find her, like Daesha said. She could be dangerous if she found out who we work for. Kho, you and Kipper will search the rest of the spaceport and a few of the shops closest to the ship. Daesha, you and Arri will investigate the cantinas and anywhere closer to the city's center. I'm going to stay here in case she tries to hijack the ship. Bring her back alive. We aren't murderers," Tanner spoke with a calm authority. The two teams split into different groups, Kho and Kipper staying close by and Daesha and Arri walking through the spaceport. Tanner rubbed his eyes. This was a mess.

Ahsoka had just finished hitting the last Rodian over the head with his own blaster, effectively knocking him out. The forest-green-skinned man fell on top of his two comrades with a muted thud. The three goons had come around Ahsoka asking what a pretty little thing like her was doing in a cantina like this. She had promptly kneed him in the groin and the ensuing beat-down had commenced. Ahsoka chuckled to herself as she finished her drink. _How's that for dangerous?_ she thought.

Before she could settle completely down again, the Twi'lek that had been on the ship walked in with the Wookiee that had checked the hold. A spike of apprehension ran through Ahsoka at the sight of them. Drawing the cloak over her montrals, Ahsoka stayed still in her seat. She couldn't risk being seen so soon by the pair of aliens at the front of the cantina.

Ahsoka kept her intense glare on the two as they split up. The Twi'lek, obviously trying _not_ to be obvious, had sat at the bar and was in the process of ordering a drink. The Wookiee had started making the rounds of the cantina, looking for someone who shouldn't be there. With the Wookiee inching closer and closer, Ahsoka decided it was time for some preemptive evasive action. She rose out of the booth and began walking toward the Wookiee.

The Wookiee, not expecting his target to come walking up to him, did little more than acknowledge the female in the dark cloak. Through the strobing lights of the cantina Ahsoka walked, feeling slightly more confident with her skills. After all, if she could evade the likes of these two, how much harder would it be to evade others?

Ahsoka was nearing the door when the Twi'lek noticed the short cloaked figure. Daesha turned to get a good look at the figure that had two small montrals sticking up through the cloth. Realization hit her a little late, and she called to the Wookiee as the cloaked figure walked calmly out of the cantina.

Ahsoka, sensing the incoming danger, broke out into a run as soon as she was away from the door. The crowded streets of the market helped disguise her running figure, and a small sand cloud kicked by her feet dissipated soon after it was formed. Smirking, Ahsoka Force-jumped onto one of the roofs around her and then dropped silently into the alleyway next to it. _Guess I haven't lost my agility or grace_, thought the overconfident Togruta. Though she had largely grown out of her cocky attitude, she still had her flaws.

Not long after her escape from the cantina, Ahsoka heard a pair of fast footsteps passing her alley. Once again, the former Padawan smirked to herself. She was as good as gold now.

Daesha and Arribecca had been searching for the past hour for the Togrutan stowaway. How she had managed to escape was beyond the pair, and they were both disappointed by their ability to be fooled by a teenage girl. Granted, Arribecca himself was only fifteen, but he had grown very mature during his travels with the crew of _Gypsy Danger_.

So when the pair got the call from Kipper, the crew's R4 droid, saying that he and Kho had captured the stowaway, they were understandably peeved. Daesha, who had quite a temper, stomped back loudly to the spaceport. Arribecca followed closely behind, resisting the urge to laugh at the older woman's anger. Daesha was fuming. She couldn't understand how the Nautolan and the droid pair had managed to get a hold of this girl when she and Arribecca couldn't. She was known as one of the best pilots in the underground world, yet she couldn't catch a simple stowaway.

Tanner was talking to the young Togruta when the Wookiee and Twi'lek pair arrived on the scene. Daesha stood and watched the affair from a few feet away. Kho was holding the Togruta's arms behind her back, and she was struggling with a surprising amount of strength. _Tanner must be trying to be diplomatic by asking her a few simple questions first_, Daesha assumed.

Daesha took the moment of respite to examine the stowaway. Her montrals were about half the height of a full-grown Togruta, and her lekku only reached down to her breasts. She had gloves that were a dark, rusty red color and the length of her forearm. She had bands that went up her arm to her shoulder. She wore a tunic of the same red color that went down to just past her waist. It formed a collar around her throat with a little gold choker with a diamond in the middle, and a little further down was an open circle above her breasts. She wore criss-crossing leather straps leading to a traditional purple Togruta sash. Her dark grey leggings had diamonds that showed her orange skin all the way down her legs to her worn, dirty boots.

When Daesha looked at the girl's face, she understood the diamond pattern. On her forehead, near the girl's akul-tooth headdress, were two white diamond facial markings. In the middle were two parallel lines that formed a diamond and went down in a straight line before separating to form what would have been eyebrows on a being with hair. She had identical markings on her cheeks that resembled the wings of an angel. She looked to be about seventeen.

Ahsoka's blue and white striped lekku were moving violently as she thrashed against the Nautolan man's steel grip. She had wanted to get _away_ from these idiots, not be brought back to them. She kicked him in the knee and backflipped over him. Her hands now free, she assumed a defensive stance. The Wookiee and the Twi'lek had arrived there, and the ship's captain was right in front of her. She frantically searched the spaceport around her.

Ahsoka quickly decided to jump on top of their ship as a good way of escape. She bent her legs before the Nautolan man could recover and leapt onto the top of the ship. The entire crew, including the little droid, looked up at the girl in surprise. They obviously hadn't been expecting her skill in hand-to-hand combat, and she smirked at them before turning around.

She ran to the edge of the freighter and jumped onto one of the other ships in the open spaceport. Making her getaway on the tops of ships, she eventually reached the marketplace again. She landed on the ground in her usual stance with one leg out and took off down the streets of wherever she was.

Slowing down, Ahsoka took in her surroundings with a few pants. She had absolutely no idea where she was, and she was on Tatooine no less. The teenager sighed. She had wasted her credits in that cantina, but the food had refueled her. She felt stronger than she had in days, and she had escaped the danger for the moment.

The alleyway next to Ahsoka offered shade from the sun and a slight reprieve. Finding the most secluded part of the area she could, Ahsoka settled onto the coarse sand around her. The buildings around her looked as though they were residential. The sandstone of the buildings didn't exactly help her blend in, but the shadows did give her some semblance of cover. The buildings to her left and right also had several stories, again leading to the idea of a residential area.

Ahsoka felt her head droop. It had been an unfortunately long and hot day, and her body was not accustomed to the lack of food and excess amount of energy spent with so little food. She had been in a similar situation on Florrum, but that hadn't been after she was left a mess emotionally. For the first time since Ahsoka left the Temple, she felt alone.

Here she was, on a totally foreign planet, with no friends or family. Even when she was on Wasskah, she had Kalifa, Jinx, O-mer, and Chewbacca. But now, she had lost everything: trust, faith, family, and whatever friends she had. Ahsoka hadn't realized how hard it was to make it in this galaxy all alone, and she now saw the perks of the Order.

Nevertheless, Ahsoka would never go back there. Her supposed family, besides Anakin and Obi-wan, had turned her over to the military authorities, a decision that had sealed her fate as death until Anakin intervened. Of course, Ahsoka had had time to process all of this on Coruscant, but she didn't have the time or the space to _dwell_ on it.

She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do. Become a bounty hunter? Be a smuggler, like that crew? Fight the good fight like she did on Onderon? Even go back to the Order? What could she do? For the first time in her life, Ahsoka didn't have a purpose. She had thought that finding something to do on Tatooine would have been easy, but, as usual, her overconfidence got her stuck.

On Coruscant, she had fought to simply survive and to deal with everything that had happened. Then, she had this bright idea. It left her with nothing. She didn't have a transport, didn't have anyone who would help her, and didn't have anything worth doing. _How could I have fallen so far?_ she asked herself, a lone tear dripping down her orange face.

Too wrapped up in her own emotions to notice the outside world, Ahsoka didn't notice the human man staring at her from the roof. He had seen her sit down dejectedly, and he had seen the tear roll down her cheek. The man's heart went out to the girl in front of him, after seeing the pain she was obviously in.

The man almost didn't want to do this to her, but he resigned himself to it. A stun shot from a blaster fired at Ahsoka before she even had time to react. Her body fell to the floor of the Tatooine marketplace, knocked out. Tanner picked her up and began to carry the unconscious Togruta through the streets of Tatooine back to his ship.


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting the Crew

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 5: Meeting the Crew (20 BBY)

_Fuzzy_. That is the first thought that went through Ahsoka's head as she came to. Her hands were in binders, and she was in a cell onboard a ship. The cell around her was cold and grey and forbidding. But the more the perceptive girl stared at it, the more it reminded her of a crewman's quarters on a ship. Her legs wobbled a bit when she stood, but she managed to get to her feet and try the door.

The door simply rattled in response. Ahsoka groaned and examined the room. There was a bunk bed in the corner and a desk. Other than those two things, the room was devoid of furniture except the occasional chair. Turning her gaze to the ceiling and walls themselves, she could find no flaw to exploit.

"Stang it!" Ahsoka muttered as she realized that she would have to use the Force to escape. _Good thing these binders aren't Force-suppressant_, Ahsoka thought bitterly. Her hands moved over the lock with a practiced ease. A few nuts, affected by the Force, clicked, and the door slid open with a hiss.

The Togruta peered into the hallway of the ship. Her montrals detected no movement coming for miles, so she hesitantly stepped into the hallway. Using the Force to help guide her, Ahsoka followed the hall until she arrived at what appeared to be the ship's mess hall. There was one large table with about ten chairs surrounding it.

The size of the mess began to give Ahsoka an idea of just how big the ship was. It definitely wasn't on the same level as, say, a Republic cruiser, but the _Twilight_ was considerably smaller. The only thing Ahsoka couldn't tell was if the ship was in space or still on Tatooine. She mentally berated herself for the lapse in concentration that got her into this situation.

Noticing the door at the other side of the mess, Ahsoka crept over to it, using her montrals to enhance her awareness. This door again slid open with a slight hiss, and Ahsoka found herself in the central hold. The room had significantly less cargo than it had before, and Ahsoka realized then that her luck had run out. The ramp was up, and there was less cargo. There was only one thing this could mean: the ship was in space.

"Stang! Kriffing smugglers!" Ahsoka muttered for the second time. There was now less cover if someone decided to come check on her, and she needed a way to get these binders off without seeming even more suspicious.

Containers stood in front of the Togruta, as if beckoning her to come test her binders' strength on them. Ahsoka walked over, this time not letting her guard down for a second, and began the task of breaking her binders. Smashing them against the blue container hardly seemed like an inconspicuous act, but Ahsoka could think of no other way to get them off.

After a few minutes' effort, the binders snapped loose. Ahsoka rubbed her wrists gingerly and wondered what to do next. The Force seemed to be nudging her to the port side of the ship. Her montrals could sense the heavy vibrations coming from that section of the ship, and she knew that's where she would get the answers she so desperately craved.

The large doors to the port hold opened with a heavy clunk. So far, no one had crossed Ahsoka's vision, but the vibrations being picked up by her montrals were steadily increasing. Against her better judgment, Ahsoka crossed the hold until she came upon some shallow stairs.

_The bridge!_ she thought with some nervousness. Slowly, she crept up the stairs to the bridge. Placing her right montral to the door, Ahsoka tried to listen in.

"So, where are we going, Tanner?" the Twi'lek asked.

"We are heading to Shili. Apparently, there's some guys there that need us to pick up some Togrutan slaves for the Zygerrians. I didn't like accepting it, but a death threat is a death threat," Tanner said seriously. Ahsoka had to restrain the gasp at his words. They were picking up Togrutan slaves?! Ahsoka's anger rose, and she tried to keep a lid on it to pay attention to the conversation.

"Did they make the death threat to you or the _Gypsy_, Tanner? And slaves? That's risky, even for us. Besides, we have that Togruta girl you insisted on bringing with us!" Daesha replied. Ahsoka smirked at her first comment but soon lost it when there was no outrage at the slavery going on.

"I know. But I can't help it. I feel like we're going to need her as much as she needs us," he replied to the purple-skinned Twi'lek woman. Ahsoka could hear her barely-disguised huff and had to retain a chuckle. The slightest sound could be the end of her, after all.

"Ya know, if I didn't like y-, I mean, the crew so much, I would've left a long time ago!" Daesha snapped angrily to the man. Ahsoka could just hear the blush that must have been darkening the Twi'lek's head-tails at the moment.

Ahsoka had been enjoying the teasing banter between the two when she sensed a presence coming from behind her. Having nowhere to run, Ahsoka stood her ground, fists at the ready. The young Wookiee had appeared at the end of the hall, looking very sleepy. Through his haze, the Wookiee barely registered the orange girl standing in front of him.

At the sight of the Wookiee, Ahsoka's eyes widened slightly. She had witnessed a Wookiee warrior's true strength on the moon of Wasskah, and she wasn't keen to go through that again. _However,_ her mind reasoned. _You also don't want to get locked in that room again._ Ahsoka's eyes steeled with an icy determination. She had to get off this ship. And she was going to have to go through the Wookiee to do it.

All this had passed in a matter of a few seconds. The Wookiee was still shaking the sleep out of his senses, and Ahsoka pressed her advantage. She flipped over the barrier of the walkway of the bridge and landed a kick to the Wookiee's abdomen. He staggered backward into one of the stray containers in this part of the hold.

Ahsoka tried to get a sweeping kick under his feet, but his mass was just too powerful. The only thing that did for Ahsoka was destroy her fluid movements. She struggled to regain her normal equilibrium of battle while the Wookiee now possessed the offensive. He used his brute strength to push Ahsoka back towards one of the containers in the hopes of holding the girl there.

Drawing on the Force to help stabilize her, Ahsoka jumped on top of the Wookiee's shoulders and landed directly behind him. Immediately, her foot shot out to connect with the Wookiee's back. He flew forward into the very container he had been trying to trap her with, and he felt the wind leave his lungs. Ahsoka, now having the upper hand, quickly found a tool lying around. It was heavy, grey, and looked like it packed quite a wallop. In one motion, the Wookiee was slammed on the head, and he did not rise.

Ahsoka ran to him, checking his pulse. She had no comprehension of Wookiee biology and did not want to be the cause of another death. The pulse ebbed and flowed beneath her fingers, perhaps a bit weaker than normal, but okay nonetheless. Dragging the Wookiee across the hold proved to be no easy task, and Ahsoka found herself grunting and groaning to herself.

She finally managed to place him in an inconspicuous corner where it would take the crew a while to find him before he woke up. With the footsteps of a cat, Ahsoka made her way back to the bridge's door. But, before she could resume her little mission, the door to the bridge slid open with a swoosh.

The Twi'lek woman and human man only took a moment to stare before responding to the sight in front of them. Ahsoka sped off, using the Force to slightly increase her speed. Since the ship was so small, she had limited time and options. As she rounded a corner, the clever Togruta spotted one of her old tricks: a vent. Flinging the top off with the Force, she lowered herself into the shaft, bringing the top back with her.

Seconds later, she heard footsteps approaching her position. They slowed as they entered the room and began searching the starboard hold for the slippery Togruta.

"Where could she be?" Tanner asked, in a tone laced with something akin to... sarcasm.

"Gee, I don't know Tanner. We should probably leave the hold now to catch her." The Togruta rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the situation. They obviously knew she was in here, but it was clear they didn't know where exactly she was. She could see right through their schemes. They would pretend to leave the room and wait until she came out of hiding to ambush her. Oldest trick in the book, next to her hiding in an air duct.

Knowing she would have to make an escape somehow, Ahsoka opted for staying below her pursuers. The air duct was a black hole, sucking in the light that made it through the grates. It went on for as far as Ahsoka could see, even with her enhanced predatory night vision. _Well, I'm gonna have to move at some point_, she concluded before crawling down the duct.

The cobwebs tickled her nose the farther down she went. She resisted the urge to brush them off and sneeze at the same time, no small feat when she was crawling on all fours. When she could no longer detect vibrations from the living beings of the ship, she lifted a grate with her hands. Peeking like a child from the cover of the ducts, she was greeted with an unpleasant sight. The Nautolan, Twi'lek, and human were standing around the grate.

"Oh Force," she muttered under her breath, gazing at the three older quarry. Sensing the situation was only going to get worse when they found the Wookiee, she did the only thing a snippy seventeen year old could do. Ahsoka slipped back down in the air duct and replaced the covering.

Warm laughter shimmied past her montrals and into the air system. The least she could do before she was captured would be to entertain the people that had kidnapped her. She tried to merge herself into the shadows as the grate was lifted again.

"What's your name, young one?" the human asked. A soft snarl escaped her lips.

"Why should I tell you?" Ahsoka snapped back, not wanting to be associated with those who dealt in slaves. The unexpected sound of the Togruta's voice sent the crew members a step back. She sounded older than she looked, wise beyond her years. She sounded angry, but righteously so. They stared at each other. There was definitely something different about this girl.

"Well, why shouldn't you tell me?" Tanner asked, his usual calm and charming demeanor reminding Ahsoka of Obi-wan.

"Since you haven't told me yours, why should I tell you mine?" Ahsoka snorted, still a spitfire after the past couple of weeks. The smugglers looked at each other with amusement. The girl did have a good point.

"Alright, fine, snippy Togruta. My name is Tanner. That lovely Twi'lek lady is Daesha, and my Nautolan friend here is Kho," he responded in a cheerful tone of voice. Daesha glared at him, having wanted to keep her name to herself. However, the names of the people seemed to have an effect on the teenager.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Ahsoka," she responded positively until Tanner went to touch her foot. A combination of a hiss, squeak, and growl escaped Ahsoka's lips. Ahsoka couldn't understand why she had reacted like that until she finally got a grip on herself. The whole debacle with the Temple bombing had affected her in even more ways than she had thought. Ahsoka was now afraid to let people touch her.

His arms came in deeper and deeper into her duct until she could make out a face. A tan complexion and shockingly deep black hair floated into the vent, coupled with a glinting smile. His countenance was so charismatic, so charming, that Ahsoka couldn't help but smirk back.

"Come on," he beckoned. "We're not gonna hurt you." As much as the former Jedi wanted to grasp his hand, she couldn't help when her body shrank away from his touch. She didn't want to be roped in like she had when Letta Turmond requested her at her cell. She didn't want this nice man to be the one to attack her in the end, like Barriss had.

Luckily for Ahsoka, Tanner recognized her fear and withdrew his hand immediately. He had known only one other person in his life to react that way, and now she was a faithful member of his crew. He instead held his hand out, not too far, until she would grasp it in good faith.

Ahsoka eyed the man warily. After the affair with the Jedi, could she really bring herself to trust again? With a few moments' deliberation, Ahsoka reached out to take his hand. She wanted to trust again, to find purpose again. If she had to do it with a smuggler, so be it. Ahsoka never wanted to feel vulnerable again.

Daesha watched the entire exchange intently, reminded of the first time she had met Tanner. The same look that was now in Ahsoka's eyes also was once in Daesha's. The older Twi'lek woman felt a seed of concern and matronly feelings take root inside of her heart.

Rising to her full height, Ahsoka stared at the trio, still not feeling the trust between them. As soon as she was out of the air duct, she backed up against a wall, feeling intimidated and threatened. Her Togruta nature called her to bare her fangs and hiss, but Ahsoka was a tad more civilized than that. Unfortunately, the encounter with the clones and Anakin had taken their toll on Ahsoka's psyche. It would be a long time before she fully trusted anyone again.

"Alright, guys, let's go back to the bridge. I want to hear your story, Ahsoka," Tanner said her name in a teasing way, making her think back on her time as Snips, Padawan to the Chosen One. Those days would be no more, and Ahsoka vowed to move on with her life. She had to, for her own sake.

A Wookiee's pained moan resounded throughout the port hold as the group walked through the cargo doors. The three older crew members stared at Ahsoka, and she smiled sheepishly.

"Whoops," her lekku darkened from the embarrassment of beating up one of their crew members. Tanner chuckled at his new-found friend while Kho and Daesha stared at her in wonder. Her skill as a fighter must be quite adept if she could take on a Wookiee.

"Arri, get up!" Daesha shouted at their furry companion, teasing the youngest member of the crew. With that, the full crew walked in with Ahsoka in the middle of their loose pack. Ahsoka gazed at the bridge in wonder. While the ship was kind of a rust bucket, the bridge was quite beautiful. There were four comfortable chairs in the cockpit, surrounded by the technology required to run the ship. Ahsoka, having developed an affinity for technology and ships under Skywalker's tutelage, was put nearly to a standstill at the advanced machinery all around her.

This was, by far, one of the most advanced ships in terms of what it took to run, and it had even more up-to-date navigation systems than even some Republic cruisers. Before anyone could grab hold of the Togruta, she rushed to one of the control panels and started fiddling, examining the interior workings of the ship from the screen.

"For smugglers, your ship is the most advanced that I've seen. I'd love to have had my hands on some of this stuff, considering the scrapes I've been in!" Ahsoka exclaimed excitedly. Underneath, however, she was having to maintain the utmost composure. These guys were about to smuggle Togrutan slaves to the Zygerrian slavers, and the last thing she needed was them finding out she was a former Jedi.

"Well, before you can get used to _my_ ship, you'll need to answer a few questions," Tanner deadpanned. Ahsoka's headtails darkened again as embarrassment flitted across her features.

"Alright, alright. But I am looking at this as soon as we're done!" she chirped cheerfully, feeling the snippy girl emerging once again. That girl had been pushed down by the burden of war and the burden of being a Jedi. With this smuggling crew, that girl was having the chance to rise, unbridled sass erupting with a fire not seen from the Togruta in a year.

"Why were you on board my ship?" he continued, acting as though the teen had not spoken.

"I didn't have the credits to pay for passage off of Coruscant, so I decided to stow away on an unsuspecting ship," she replied boldly, though she moved to hold one arm like a shy child. The light of understanding shown in the crew's eyes. It hadn't been nearly as sinister a purpose as they had expected. It even revealed more about the girl, and Daesha made a mental note to check the latest news on Coruscant. Something about the Togruta's facial markings was making her uneasy.

"Ah. One of those situations, eh? Well, when we get to Shili, we'll drop you off," Tanner said crisply, his charming demeanor being replaced with one of a true ship captain. Tanner, with his many personalities, was reminding Ahsoka of way too many people. At the moment, Admiral Yularen stood in front of her, giving orders to the rest of the crew of the _Resolute_. However, Ahsoka wasn't about to let him get away with the deed he was about to do on Shili.

"_No_," she hissed venomously. "I won't let you take my people as slaves. I don't care if I have to _personally_ beat whoever threatened you up, but I will not allow innocent people to be enslaved." Her eyes glowed with the knowledge of being enslaved during her brief time on Zygerria and with the genuine goodness of a Jedi. Of course, the crew could only imagine the experience and not the Jedi. The crew, all except for one. The Twi'lek woman, who had been unusually quiet since Ahsoka had arrived, was eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"What?" Ahsoka stepped back in shock. She was so used to the call of a battle droid exclaiming "JEDI!" that she had forgotten what it was like to not be recognized.

"You heard me. Who are you?" the woman asked again, aggravated at the girl's refusal to tell the truth.

"I'm no one," Ahsoka muttered vaguely, glaring directly into Daesha's eyes. The blue eyes met the green ones, daring them to mention anything else. Daesha made note of the obvious threat in the clear blue eyes and backed down. The rest of crew stared at the exchange between the two women, their shock resonating in the Force. From what Ahsoka could gather, Daesha did not back down from fights easily, if at all. _Interesting_, she thought.

"Look, kid," Tanner addressed the Togrutan teen, obviously trying to break the spell that had fallen on the crew. "I don't care who you are, and I don't care what happened to you. But I won't let you be the cause of my ship exploding." The coldness in his eyes was unexpected, especially after how he had been treating her. However, this only served to increase Ahsoka's distrust in people, probably not a good thing in the long run.

"And _I_ don't care about _your _ship. _I _care about the people _you_ are about to force into slavery because _you _are too gutless to do anything about it," she replied, returning the coldness with such ferocity Tanner was surprised he didn't keel over. Until this point, Arribecca and Kho had simply been sitting in chairs, watching the exchange with ever-widening eyes. Even they were not so blind not to see the nerve that had been struck with Ahsoka.

/Both of you, calm down. You should talk about this like adults, not children./ The chastisement, coming from the Wookiee, seemed a little hypocritical, but Tanner could see his point. Ahsoka, on the other hand, was not willing to let it go. Her people had become more important to her after the events on Kiros, and she was not going to stand by as innocent people lost their lives. As a former Jedi and part of the Togruta race, she could not simply stand by.

"I am being rational. It is people like you who need to see the rationality in fighting for something other than your own skins. Just know, if you drop me off, I am going to make sure your ship doesn't leave the planet," Ahsoka turned her back on the crew, cruel shards of ice filling her voice. She was never usually this cold, but after the events of late and the threatening of her people once again, she could react no other way.

Ahsoka was sick of watching people like this crew stand by and watch as people suffered. Ahsoka was sick of those that she had trusted, even for a second, betraying that trust. Ahsoka was even sick of the innate goodness instilled in her by the Jedi. She didn't want to be completely nice anymore. She didn't want to always be respectful to those around her. She wanted to be taken seriously, and she wanted, most of all, to be understood.

"You know I can't take that threat lightly," Tanner warned, a dangerous undercurrent in his voice.

"And you know I can't take this threat lightly," replied the enraged girl. Her voice seemed infinitely more dangerous when compared to Tanner's. Daesha and Kho each gave the other a worried glance. As bystanders in this conversation, they could see that Ahsoka was nearing her breaking point. That, combined with her obviously being a well-trained fighter, had Daesha fearing for Tanner's life, if not her own.

"Seriously. Tanner, let it go," Daesha urged.

"Tanner, man, she's threatened. We _did_ agree to taking her people to be enslaved by the Zygerrians. Don't push it," Kho added, moving to stand in between the two combatants. As level-headed as Tanner usually was, this girl was bringing out the worst in him. It seemed as though she were doing that for everyone.

Before the young human man could reply, Kipper let out a series of blips and chirps, signaling the ship was coming out of hyperspace. The immediate shift in Ahsoka was apparent to all in the room. She radiated worry. Worry for her people, for her, even for the crew of the ship. She attempted to release her emotions into the Force, as she once could at the Temple. Her inner turmoil was that of a tornado, throwing her in the direction of one emotion before being whipped around to another.

With the Force's aid, the tempest was eventually calmed, but Ahsoka could not stop the ship from landing on her homeworld. Shili lay in front of them, a beacon of both good and evil. Ahsoka could not help the feeling of dread she got, looking upon the peaceful part of space. _This trip isn't going to go well,_ she mused, staring through the bridge's window. _Well, I still have time to disable the ship_, she thought, her mind racing.

She turned to the crew, but not before making a strange hand motion at the console in front of her. No one noticed, again, except for one. The Twi'lek woman, already suspicious of the girl, had just confirmed her suspicions. Ahsoka was a Jedi. Daesha watched the girl walk out of the room, following her with her jade green eyes. She would definitely have to look up the latest news.


	6. Chapter 6: Slaves, Shili, and Snips

The Ahsoka Tano Chronicles Chapter 6: Slaves, Shili, and Snips (20 BBY)

Ahsoka had returned to the room she had started in, without the cuffs on. The door did not lock behind her, but instead swished open. Startled, she whipped around, expecting an attack to come. The purple Twi'lek stood behind her, sizing her up.

Daesha had done the research she had intended to do. This girl was Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan to Anakin Skywalker, one of the few Jedi Daesha hated with her whole being. She had met him once, when he was on a mission to Naboo with a senator. Daesha had just met Tanner, and they were beginning their smuggling operation. Before leaving with said senator, he had uncovered their operation and shut them down.

It had taken her and Tanner months to rebuild their reputation and respect in the underworld circles. Daesha saw that event as one of the major setbacks of her life, and Daesha did like to hold grudges.

Ahsoka stared at her, waiting for her to make the first move. She was bone-tired, her last meal was at the cantina, and the whole emotional explosion that had happened earlier affected her more than she had thought. Reassuring herself that the Twi'lek could not do much to her, Ahsoka sat down on the cot, her shoulders coming down as though under a terrible weight.

"What do you want?" Ahsoka had given up on waiting, though her voice surprised her. She sounded dead, like she had no spirit left. In truth, after what had happened on the bridge, she didn't have the energy to be the little spitfire she normally was. It seemed that was happening a lot to Ahsoka.

"To talk," the Twi'lek gauged Ahsoka's reaction and took it as a sign to sit down. Ahsoka was ashamed. She shouldn't have treated this woman badly because they had a difference of opinions. Sure, she had damaged the ship's navigation to keep the crew down long enough to let the prisoners escape, but she did not truly want any harm to come to the crew.

"Okay," was Ahsoka's response. The Twi'lek looked up sharply before continuing.

"Something about you seemed off," Daesha began. "I couldn't place my finger on it until I saw you wave your hand over the control panel on the bridge. On a side note, I do hope you can fix that. So, I started doing my research." Stopping, Daesha reached to touch the girl's shoulder. Ahsoka flinched, but she allowed the purple hand to stay there. "What happened to you, Ahsoka Tano?"

"Had you read about me, you would know. Why make me relive it?" Ahsoka quipped. The spirit and delivery was not in the comment now. Now that Daesha knew, the whole crew would inevitably know. She would be sold into slavery for sure. She sighed pitifully. Her plan to go to Tatooine had failed miserably, as had many of her plans.

"I do know the events. But that doesn't mean that I understand you," Daesha looked at her openly, exposing more of herself to the girl in front of her than she had to Tanner in seven years. Ahsoka locked her eyes onto the Twi'lek's and, seeing the understanding in them, decided to continue with her story.

"Did you know that the girl who set me up was my best friend? Did you know that even though many here in the Outer Rim hate the Jedi, they were my family? Can you possibly grasp that I had everything I loved, believed in, and worked for ripped away from me, all because the Order that I had served faithfully my entire life wouldn't protect me?" Ahsoka was whispering now. She didn't have the strength to be defiant much longer. Her voice cracked at several intervals, and a solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

"No, I didn't. I didn't know those things..." Daesha trailed off, deep in thought. Ahsoka had been through so much, even more than the crew had. She had been fighting in this war since she was fourteen, and all that fighting had just been a waste. "Who discovered that it was your friend?" Daesha looked at the Togruta curiously.

"Um. It was my old Master. Anakin Skywalker. He was the only one who believed in me, besides Senator Amidala and Master Kenobi. He found the true traitor right before I was about to be sentenced to death," The solitary tear was now being accompanied by a few more. Ahsoka hated being vulnerable in front of someone she barely knew. Kriff, she barely even cried in front of Anakin. But something in the back of her mind told her to trust the Twi'lek before her.

"Really?" the surprise in Daesha's voice would be evident to even the dullest of people. However, Ahsoka didn't notice. The tears were coming on faster now, drowning out almost all of her surroundings. Arms wrapped themselves around the teenager, and Ahsoka leaned into them, her tears turning into sobs. Ahsoka hadn't had time to truly sort through her feelings, and that was now catching up to her. For the second time on the ship, the onslaught of her emotions felt like a tempest, rolling and thundering.

The eye of the storm was the arms surrounding Ahsoka. They held her as the sobs racked her body. They conveyed understanding, and friendship, and even... respect. A quiet voice, cracking still, broke the silence. "I'm sorry. I haven't really dealt with my emotions yet. I'll be fine." Ahsoka sat up straight from the embrace. Her eyes drifted over to the older woman. "Thank you, Daesha. Please don't tell the crew until you've left. A Jedi is worth far more to the Zygerrians than any one slave, unfortunately."

"I won't. And, to be honest, I would be honored to have you as part of our crew. You're special, and not just because you were a Jedi," Daesha winked as she got up to leave the room. "I'll speak to Tanner on your behalf. I'm pretty sure I can get you a spot on the crew." Daesha turned around and left the room, her mind made up.

The ship's ramp lowered slowly. The crew stepped out, a truly formidable sight. In front of the ship's ramp stood a Zygerrian slaver. Ahsoka, who stood just in the cargo hold, recognized this particular slaver. After all, she had fought him aboard his own ship. Darts D'nar. Anger flared in her chest at the sight of him, but she kept her head. Ahsoka had thought he was going to be held in the Republic's detention facility, a place she was quite familiar with, but he had apparently been released.

He looked as princely as usual, his blue and gold suit unchanged since their last meeting. He had a scar on his face, extending from his right eye down to his left jaw. It appeared he had lost the use of his right eye, due to his now wearing an eye patch. He stood with his arms crossed, in front of some crates.

Ahsoka, daring to move closer to the edge, looked in some of the crates in vain, trying to determine which held her people. Before she could truly get a good look, D'nar's voice stopped her.

"I need you to get these shipments back to Zygerria for me. The Republic has been looking for me ever since I escaped, and your ship looks nothing like a Zygerrian slave trader ship. Your pay will be... extravagant," Darts D'nar surveyed the crew with an appraising eye. Tanner, the ship's captain, stepped forward with his arms behind his back, much like an admiral.

"What _exactly_ do you mean by extravagant, D'nar? Especially after you threaten me and my ship?" the charismatic human man was angry. His barely-contained rage at the man standing in front of him was palpable to even those who were not Force-sensitive. For Ahsoka, it was like a tidal wave of blood-red water crushing her in the Force. The raw power of the emotion was enough to make Ahsoka take a small step backwards before righting her footing and turning back to the conversation.

"Fifteen million credits, _Dex_. And, of course, the termination of the bounty placed on your ship," Darts D'nar looked smug. He would; after all, he had the ship captain dead to rights on this deal. No one could pass this offer up. If Tanner didn't take the deal, the bounty on his ship would be equivalent to the price he would be paid. Tanner's shoulders lost a bit of their strong front.

"Alright. Show me the cargo, D'nar," Tanner spoke curtly, not wanting to spend more time with the slaver than necessary.

"Follow me." Darts D'nar led the crew around the docks of Shili. Ahsoka peeked out even further to get a good look at what she was up against. Hundreds of crates stood, silent tributes to the evil that was happening. Ahsoka gasped at the sheer amount of slaves that were going to be shipped to Zygerria. At this moment, the rage that Tanner had felt earlier was nothing compared to Ahsoka's, and she thanked whatever was out there that none of the people here were Force-sensitive.

As much as Ahsoka did not want to leave the crew alone with the trader, she decided it would be best to clear her mind. Ahsoka deftly made her way back to the quarters she had been in the entire time. Sitting down in a practiced pose, Ahsoka began the process of clearing her mind. First, she focused on the anger she felt at the Zygerrians. It could easily lead to something dark, and Ahsoka struggled to be rid of it. She then repeated the process with the rest of her emotions, trying to at least calm and center herself before attempting her task that evening.

When Ahsoka broke her meditative trance, she felt refreshed and clean. She had missed the Force's comforting hand in her mind, and Ahsoka made a promise to herself to keep up with her meditation. She would need it, especially in the coming years.

It was nighttime on Shili. The six moons of the planet were lifted in the great expanse of stars when Ahsoka finally emerged from the ship. Though she had only been on her home planet a few times since she was taken into the Order, it was still one of her favorite places. Memories flashed through her brain rapidly: the first time she had killed an akul, the first time she had been back after being made a Padawan, the time she visited when she had gotten word that her parents had died.

The turu-grass of the plains planet blew in a soft wind while a young Togruta led thousands of near-slaves away from the docks. The quiet sound of Togruti being spoken drifted through the swaying grasses of the plains of Shili. Pulling the man who appeared to be the leader aside, Ahsoka asked him in Togruti where he lived. He pointed in the opposite direction of the docks, directly into the plains.

Hand signals substituted for Togruti as the thousands of slaves crossed the gentle plains. Ahsoka kept alert in case a rogue akul decided to make a meal out of the people of Shili. Though there were some warriors among the group, the majority were women and children, so Ahsoka would have to do her best to keep them safe.

It was nearing morning when the large group finally returned to their home. The warriors of the tribe met the group with happiness and joy. The renewed strength the return gave the warriors seemed to give them the edge they would need in their fight against the Zygerrians. Ahsoka had slipped away from the group of slaves before anyone could thank her and began the perilous journey back to the _Gypsy Danger_.

Ahsoka slipped in between the crates of the former slaves, listening for any movement. She did not want to get caught by the man who probably had her facial markings memorized. Ahsoka had spent the entire trip back to the ship thinking of ways she could get out of this mess without harming the crew. Ahsoka knew that if they had begun loading crates onto the ship, Darts D'nar would be forced to consider their innocence when he checked them out.

Sure enough, the crew was loading the now-empty crates onto their ship, looking as oblivious as ever. They must not have checked on her at any point because they would have reacted differently if she were gone. Darts D'nar was there, overseeing the loading of the crates to make sure that the crew didn't try anything. _Good_, thought Ahsoka. _They can't be suspected of any foul play, especially since I let the security footage show me as the culprit_.

Ahsoka had actually planned this one out during her meditative trance. She let the security footage record her setting the Togrutans free. She was careful not to show her facial markings, but she had disabled it to where no one could tell where she had come from. Hopefully, they would assume she was a bold native who wanted to free her people and succeeded. Even though Ahsoka had tampered with the evidence using her technological prowess, she had cleverly made it look as though someone bludgeoned the cameras.

Ahsoka's attention was drawn back to the crew with a series of confused shouts. Arribecca was groaning in Shyriiwook to his crew members. He had been the one to find the crate purposely left open. The genuine panic in his voice alerted Darts D'nar to something amiss, and he swaggered his way over to where the Wookiee was. His smug look turned into one of furious rage when he looked upon the open and empty crate.

"What is this! What did you idiots do?" D'nar looked more mad than Ahsoka had ever seen him, and the thought that she had caused this brought her tremendous pleasure.

"That's whatcha get, sleemo," Ahsoka whispered under her breath, still hiding behind one of the crates. Tanner had run over and was examining the crates with anger and curiosity.

"I'm sorry, Darts, but I really can't tell you what happened here. It looks like the slaves were freed... Do you have any security cameras?" Tanner began his investigation subtly, using cool logic to subdue D'nar's temper. D'nar looked as though he were about to punch the man, but he suddenly thought better of it. He realized that the crew wouldn't be offering to help him look if it had been one of them in the first place.

"Alright. The security command center is over this way." Ahsoka took this as her chance and ran to the ramp as soon as the group had disappeared from sight. Soon, the crew would assume that it was her that had freed the slaves, and she needed to be ready for the two possibilities that would happen.

Arriving back at her little room, Ahsoka slipped back into her meditative trance, using the Force to combat her wild emotions. She may not be part of the Order anymore, but Ahsoka still needed the Force like many trained Force-sensitives did. One of two things was about to happen: the crew would tell Darts D'nar exactly who did it, and she would be sold into slavery, or the crew would cover for a potential crew member and friend.

_I have a bad feeling about this_, Ahsoka thought to herself.

The crew was walking back to their ship with a very angry Darts D'nar. "All my slaves, gone! When I find that Togruta girl, I am going to make her wish she weren't alive!" His ranting had been going on since he saw the security footage of the previous night. Tanner had had enough and needed to confront the slaver.

"Darts! What about us? Are we going to get that bounty put on our heads, or can we leave in peace?" At that, the Zygerrian looked Tanner over. The man radiated innocence, something many people often did not have.

"You can leave in peace after I've searched your ship." The concession came in a clipped tone of voice accompanied by a quickened pace.

Deep in her meditative trance, Ahsoka nearly missed the presence coming directly for the ship. Instead of panicking, Ahsoka neatly broke her concentration and headed for the mess. The grate in the mess flew off of its hinges with the aid of the Force, and Ahsoka proceeded to crawl into the air ducts for the second time this trip. The grate was placed back in its usual spot with a gentle touch, and the room looked as undisturbed and peaceful as a mess hall can look.

The crew walked aboard the ship with Darts D'nar nervously. They all knew who had freed the slaves, but they just couldn't figure out how she had done it. Daesha was worried for her friend, but she acknowledged that, with the help of the Force, Ahsoka would be okay. Daesha placed a hand on Tanner's back in a rare gesture of support.

The journey through the ship was tense for everyone that wasn't Darts D'nar. He knew that the Togrutan girl was most likely not on the ship that was prepared to take away her people. Darts assumed that the girl had gone back to whatever village she was from and had stayed there. Truthfully, he was impressed that this girl had managed to do this to his operation here on Shili. He would find her eventually.

When Darts D'nar left the ship for good, the crew felt a great sense of relief. They all filed to the bridge, expecting it to be an easy takeoff. Instead, they found Kipper and Ahsoka struggling to fix the navigation system.

"Hey, Kips. Do you mind handing me the hydrospanner? This one bit is driving me crazy!" Ahsoka said, going even farther under the navigation system. Her hand shot out to grab the hydrospanner before a grating sound was heard. "Got it, Kips! Now hand me the torque wrench. There's one last loose connector, and then we should be back online." The hydrospanner and the torque wrench traded places.

All of a sudden, the navigation system lit up with a familiar glow. The words _Input Coordinates_ gave a sense of relief to the entire crew. Ahsoka emerged slowly from underneath the navigation system. Her clothes were extremely dusty, and her face had oil smudges running down it. The metal goggles she was wearing added to the sense of her being a true mechanic.

"Oh, hey guys! I was just fixing your navigation system. Kips here told me there was something wrong with it," Ahsoka notified the crew of what she had been doing when she stood up from the floor. As they were gazing at her in shock (she hadn't been there when they examined the room with D'nar), Ahsoka took a moment to fully overlook the crew.

Kho, the Nautolan, was the first she examined. He wore dark grey pants with black boots. His light tan tunic was covered by a deeper tan scarf. Pieces of green armor covered his body, and his armbands were black. His skin was a deep sea blue color. On his back rested a pair of vibroblades that gleamed wickedly in the light of the bridge. He had two holsters as well, holding DH-17 blaster pistols. The most interesting thing about Kho, however, was the fact that he had tattooed lines down each one of his head-tresses.

Ahsoka's gaze shifted to Arribecca, the Wookiee. He had deep black fur, near the blackness of space itself. He wore a light gray x-shaped tunic that had ammo pouches lined all the way down. He carried a bowcaster like many Wookiees do, but he also carried something else. Forming another x-shape along his back was an X1 carbine rifle. Ahsoka had never seen one of those in her life, but it looked as though it were fashioned by the Wookiees themselves. That weapon alone gave Arribecca a more intimidating edge.

Tanner stood next to his Wookiee friend. His black hair was so dark it was almost blue, and his eyes were a vibrant green. He wore a white shirt with a green jacket. His pants were a dark brown color, and his boots matched the color of his jacket, a deep forest green. He was tan and muscular, truly a sight to behold. He had a pair of DL-44 heavy blaster pistols and carried a menacing presence. If it weren't for the attitude he had, he would surely have been scary to Ahsoka.

Daesha stood with her arms crossed next to the human man. Her clothing was dark brown, much like what Asajj Ventress now dressed in. Her boots were a rich red color, and this red color transferred to her top. Many cloth strips intersected along her head-tails, and her belt had a sash much like Ahsoka's. Gold accented all of her clothing and added an elegant air to the woman. Perhaps the most interesting part of Daesha was her weapons. She carried two electrowhips paired with an electrostaff across her back. _As if she weren't intimidating enough_, Ahsoka muttered mentally.

Her assessment of the crew ended with the droid that had been helping her the entire time. He was an R4 class droid, closely resembling R2 but with a more pyramidal top. He had black and blue markings, standing out starkly against the ship's mostly white and grey interior. He even sounded like R2 to Ahsoka, but he was very protocol-oriented. Kipper, to Ahsoka, was the astromech you would get if you crossed C-3PO with R2-D2: a semi-annoying, rule-obsessed, adventurous, and loyal tin can.

Finished with her once-over of the crew, she smiled at them. "I believe the words you are looking for are 'Thank you, Ahsoka'," she said, winking along with her sarcastic tone. The entire crew looked at each other in mock displeasure before bursting into laughter. "You're very welcome, ya ungrateful lot." Ahsoka's voice took a turn into a rendition of one of the bounty hunters she had met on her travels, and laughter once again filled the hold.

However, Ahsoka really did want to return to her room in the quarters and tried to speed her way out of the bridge. Before anyone could stop her, the door had swished closed on a rushing Togrutan girl. Ahsoka skipped to her room, a sudden happiness filling her mind. She had managed to save the day once again, with both the captured Togrutans and the crew.


End file.
